I have potty trained 8 children ( so far )... Here is how I do it I never start until almost three or after three, and until they show true signs of being ready. Telling me they need to go, asking for diaper changes...so forth. I totally let them have the lead on this. I never use pull ups. We go straight to underwater ( I usually take them and buy them their choice with characters on it). I put them straight on the big potty ( we have a little insert that goes on it). Every child is different, some may be ready much earlier... I have just never thought of it as a big deal. Usually with my way of doing it, we are done with the training in a week or less.

~ "How can there be too many children? That is like saying there are too many flowers."~ Mother Teresa

We started early (by North American standards) because she was keen and we had a German Au Pair for whom it was totally unheard of for a child older than one year old to be in nappies. She was put on a potty from about 14 mos and used it consistently but this was really us giving her a chance, responding to her natural schedule and being consistent. She still wore diapers sometimes, but only wet a couple a day. At 19 months, both DH and I had to travel extensively for work and then we moved across the country (driving) and were on the road for over two weeks, so the previous pattern took a back seat. We did one of those potty training weekends when she was about 20 months and she responded very well but had a physical problem stopping the urine and getting to the potty fast enough. We backed off but kept consistently putting her on. At 22 months the physical milestone was reached and she trained her self cold turkey in one day. She occasionally dribbles if she is distracted and doesn't get to the toilet quick enough but it was relatively painless because we did it incrementally and early and had someone at home with her during the day.